Like many games before it, Honkai: Star Rail (HSR) has its own set of combat mechanics that players must learn to master. However, not all of these mechanics are explicitly explained in the tutorials, skill and item descriptions, and other in-game materials. This often leads to some players getting confused or completely ignoring some game mechanics that could be crucial to their success. Effect Hit Rate is one such mechanic that players must understand to become effective in combat. With the arrival of Silver Wolf and Version 1.1, Effect Hit Rate seems to have become even more crucial than before. Let’s dive deep into what Effect Hit Rate is, how it affects your team and playstyle, and other related stats you should know.
What is Effect Hit Rate?
Effect Hit Rate (EHR) is a stat that determines the chance of triggering an effect on your enemies with your attacks. As you may know, every element has a corresponding debuff that can be inflicted on enemies, such as Freezing for Ice, Burning for Fire, Wind Shear for Wind, etc. Also, there are some crowd control debuffs that are unique to different characters, like Silver Wolf’s glitches. At its very core, EHR determines the chance of inflicting these effects on enemies with your abilities. While EHR doesn’t directly affect your team’s overall damage, they can benefit from the debuffs in a variety of ways, such as granting SPD, reducing the enemy’s defence, or delaying the target’s action.
For now, there are only a handful of characters that rely heavily on inflicting debuffs on enemies, which requires higher EHR stats. Nihility characters like Pela, Sampo, Welt, and the newly added Silver Wolf depend on EHR to trigger their Nihility effects, which are potent debuffs that can turn the tide of battle in your favour. However, EHR isn’t just for the exclusive benefit of Nihility characters. For instance, many abilities, like March 7th’s Glacial Cascade, have a base chance to inflict elemental debuffs on an enemy, which can be enhanced by EHR. March 7th is a Preservation character and not a debuffer, but putting more EHR stats on her will enhance the probability of triggering Freeze, making her skill more consistent against any foe.
How Important is Effect Hit Rate?
Having high EHR stats means that your character has a better chance of inflicting debilitating effects on your enemies, which can greatly weaken them and make them easier to defeat. This is particularly important in battles against formidable enemies or bosses, where every slight advantage can make a difference. Characters that rely on inflicting debuffs, like Nihility characters, benefit greatly from having a high EHR, as it allows them to trigger their powerful debuffs more frequently. Building your debuffers with low EHR can greatly hinder their effectiveness in battles, so it’s essential to prioritise EHR when building a team around these characters. This is especially evident against bosses that possess high resistance to debuffs, where a low EHR can make it nearly impossible to debuff them.
While EHR is important for debuffers, it’s not recommended to prioritise it for characters that focus on raw damage output, as they don’t rely on elemental debuffs to deal damage. Ultimately, the importance of EHR depends on the specific characters and playstyle of the player.
Effect RES and Debuff RES
On the opposite side of the spectrum, Effect RES is the stat that determines a character’s resistance to debuffs. This stat works alongside Debuff RES, which pretty much works the same as Effect RES. The game doesn’t really provide a clear distinction between the two, but they are both important in determining a character’s ability to resist debuffs.
Having high Effect RES and Debuff RES means that a character is less likely to be affected by debilitating effects, which can be crucial in battles where the enemy frequently inflicts debuffs. The same works with common enemies and bosses. Whether you’re playing in the Simulated Universe, Cavern of Corrosion or just the overworld, bosses mostly have dangerously high Effect RES, making them nearly immune to status effects. This is where EHR becomes important, as characters with high EHR have a better chance of inflicting debuffs even on resistant enemies.
Calculating the Probability of a Debuff Being Applied
Certain characters’ skills and attacks have a base chance to inflict debuffs, which is then modified by their Effect Hit Rate stat. Your character’s total EHR stats can be enhanced by equipping them with Relics and Light Cones that boost this particular stat. Traces and Eidolons can also grant bonus EHR stats, depending on their abilities and passive skills. Additionally, some characters have abilities or passive skills that increase their own EHR or decrease the enemy’s Effect RES, which can be useful in battles where debuffs are a major factor. In Silver Wolf’s case, her second Eidolon applies a 20% Effect RES reduction to all enemies while in combat, which affects the probability of her debuffs landing on an enemy.
The tricky part is, just because you have 100% EHR doesn’t mean you will always successfully inflict debuffs on enemies. Remember, Effect RES and Debuff RES are also a factor, and if the enemy has a high enough number on both stats, your EHR may not be enough to overcome it.
Here’s a basic computation of how you can determine the probability of successfully inflicting a debuff on an enemy:
Real Effect Probability = Base Effect Probability x (1 + Attacker’s EHR) x (1 – Target’s Effect RES) x (1 – Target’s Debuff RES)
Using the formula, we can use Pela as an example. Let’s say your Pela currently has 85% EHR from all of her Light Cones, Traces, and Relics. She also has a 100% base effect probability of inflicting DEF reduction with her Ultimate skill. The enemy you’re facing has a 50% Effect RES and a 30% Debuff RES against DEF reduction.
Real Effect Probability = 100% x (1 + 0.85) x (1 – 0.50) x (1 – 0.30)
Real Effect Probability = 100% x 1.85 x 0.50 x 0.70
Real Effect Probability = 64.75%
This means that with your Pela’s current EHR and the enemy’s resistance, you have a 64.75% chance of successfully inflicting DEF reduction with her Ultimate skill.
It’s worth noting that some enemies may even have immunity to certain debuffs, rendering your EHR useless in those situations. For example, Cocolia is a boss enemy in the Simulated Universe that has complete immunity to Freezing. So, no matter how high your EHR is, you cannot freeze her. Therefore, it’s important to also consider the enemy’s weaknesses and strengths, as well as their resistance, before attempting to inflict a debuff.
Weakness Breaks and Debuffs
In combat, reducing an enemy’s Toughness gauge to zero will result in a Weakness Break. Weakness Breaks give the attacking character a 150% base chance to apply debuffs to enemies. This is one of the reasons why your typical DPS character doesn’t need to have a really high EHR since they can easily rely on Weakness Breaks to inflict elemental debuffs on enemies. However, if you have a Nihility character that relies heavily on inflicting crowd control debuff on enemies, then having a high EHR should be a priority. For a more comprehensive discussion on Weakness Breaks and elemental debuffs.
Having high EHR is vital for certain characters, especially those that rely on debuffing enemies. However, it’s not the only factor to consider. You also need to take into account the enemy’s Effect RES and Debuff RES and your skill’s base probability of inflicting a debuff. Additionally, DPS characters may not need to prioritise EHR as much since they can rely on Weakness Breaks to apply elemental debuffs. Now that you know the importance of EHR, make sure to keep it in mind when building your team and selecting gear for your characters. Ultimately, it’s important to consider all factors when building a character and their equipment to maximise their combat effectiveness.
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